Member-only story
Why new leaders fail and (how it impacts the team)
New leaders fail often. I don’t just mean they make mistakes, this is expected. Everyone who learns a new skill will fail along the way to becoming better. When I say they fail, I mean that new leaders often leave or get fired from the company, some within less than a year of embarking on their role.
This isn’t a problem just for the CEO, the cost of failing leaders is felt by the whole company. When new leaders start, they often feel like they’ve been dumped into the deep end of the pool. The introduction to being an executive at the company is often an invite for the executive team meeting which shows up on their calendar. Most stumble through the first few months having 1:1s across the company, listening and observing. They wonder if they should put out a plan to demonstrate their strategic thinking — and their leadership skills. After a year in the role, many leaders at scaling startups still feel like a beginner: learning how to work with other executives, figuring out how to influence rather than be hands on, balance multiple priorities and make good decisions when the answers aren’t clear cut.
Common problems new leaders face
- Don’t know what’s expected of them
- Don’t understand how to work with other peers at the senior level
